Department for Education

Family Hubs: Religion and Voluntary Organisations

The Lord Bishop of Durham: To ask His Majesty's Government what supportthey are offering to local authorities to help them partner with (1) voluntary, and (2) faith, organisations in the implementation of Family Hubs.

Baroness Barran: The department recognises the importance of both voluntary organisations and faith group partners to the family hub model. Both have a vital role in supporting families to improve the reach and impact of the family hub offer, particularly for those seldom heard parents and families. The department has set the expectation in its family hubs guidance that local authorities partner with voluntary and faith organisations as part of their family hub model. Family hubs bring together resources, expertise, and assets to provide an integrated offer to support families and respond to the needs of the community. The family hubs guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-and-start-for-life-programme-local-authority-guide.All local authorities who are part of the Family Hubs Start for Life programme have the support of a Regional Delivery Lead and a Regional Delivery Expert Advisor to work with them on the transformation of family support services to family hubs.All local authorities have received funding to allow their family support services to transition to the family hub model. This could include the co-location of services for families in family hubs, making it easier for families to access services. Family hubs should also connect families to the relevant voluntary and faith sector support provided in their communities. In the developed family hub model, there should be a strategy to grow and support voluntary and faith sector organisations to work towards shared outcomes in the family hub network.The department’s delivery partner, the National Centre for Family Hubs, is working with all local authorities across England, spreading best practice through conferences, events, online modules and case studies. The National Centre will publish a toolkit module, as well as offering coaching and/or one to one support on how to engage with and make high quality partnerships with voluntary and faith organisations. The department welcomes the continued participation and contribution of faith sector organisations to these channels.

Adult Education: Numeracy

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: To ask His Majesty's Government howmany adults completed Multiply adult numeracy courses in (1) 2021, (2) 2022, and (3) 2023 to date.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: To ask His Majesty's Government howmany adults have completed Multiply adult numeracy courses, broken down by region.

Baroness Barran: Completion figures are not currently published for the Multiply programme. The next data release, expected at the end of November, will include completion figures by region for all four quarters of the 2022/23 academic year.

English Language and Mathematics: GCSE

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask His Majesty's Government what additional support they are providing to further education colleges to assist with meeting the costs associated with the increased number ofstudents who will resit GCSEEnglish and maths in 2023–24 as a result of the return to 2019 standards in the 2023 summer exams.

Baroness Barran: The higher pass rate of GCSEs in 2020 and 2021 led to a reduction in the proportion of young people required to re-sit English and mathematics in post-16 education in 2020/21 and 2021/22. The department recognised that this did not necessarily mean they had a reduced need for support, in fact they might require additional help in those subjects. The 16-19 Tuition Fund will have helped provide that support. It made available around £420 million additional funding between 2020/21 and 2023/24, with tutoring targeted towards students with low prior attainment and disadvantaged students.In 2023, GCSE grading returned to pre-pandemic standards, which meant the proportion of 16-year-olds achieving a GCSE grade 4 and above in 2023 was similar to pre-pandemic levels.The reduction in instances of low prior attainment arising from the GCSE results in 2020 and 2021 has fed into instances of funding for institutions to support low prior attaining students (Disadvantage Block 2) in 2022/23 and 2023/24. To address this issue, the department has increased the Disadvantage Block 2 rate for students with low prior attainment in mathematics or English from £480 in 2021/22, to £504 in allocations for the 2022/23 academic year and £559 for the 2023/24 academic year. This will mean that colleges have significantly more disadvantage funding to support these students than they would otherwise have received.For the 2023/24 academic year the department has allocated a total of £592 million of disadvantage funding to eligible 16-19 institutions, to support students from disadvantaged economic backgrounds and those who have not yet attained a grade 9 to 4 GCSE or equivalent in mathematics and/or English.In addition, for 2023/24 the department has allocated £41 million to support the delivery of mathematics and English to those students on substantial level 3 study programmes (including T Levels) who have not yet attained a grade 9 to 4 GCSE or equivalent in either or both of these subjects. In October 2023 the department announced that in future, students retaking English and mathematics GCSE while studying at level 2 or below will attract the same funding as those studying at level 3. This will significantly increase the funding available to institutions to support young people needing to continue with English and mathematics in 2024/25.The funding to support disadvantage and English and mathematics is in addition to the January 2023 announcement that £125 million would be invested in 16-19 education for 2023/24 financial year, along with the July 2023 announcement of a further investment of £185 million in the 2023/24 financial year and £285 million in the 2024/25 financial year to drive forward skills delivery in the further education sector. These increases will help institutions to manage pressures during this year.

Department for Business and Trade

Electric Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government whatsteps they are taking to mitigate the effects of impending export regulations as a result of the UK's departure from the EU on the manufacturing costs of electric vehicles and their market accessibility in the EU.

Lord Offord of Garvel: Due to unforeseen shared external shocks, carmakers across Europe have said they cannot meet the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement’s rules from 2024 and could face tariffs. This is a shared problem and the Government is determined to work with the EU to fix the specific issue faced from 2024. We want to reach a joint solution with the EU, but our priority is to support our automotive sector and we will be considering all scenarios. Government continues to support the UK automotive industry through the Automotive Transformation Fund, facilitating the creation of an internationally competitive UK electric vehicle supply chain.

Metals: Sustainable Development

Baroness Redfern: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the UK is not left behind following a potential agreement between the US and EU on Global Sustainable Steel and Aluminium.

Lord Offord of Garvel: The UK is monitoring developments of the US-EU negotiations on the Global Arrangement for Sustainable Steel and Aluminium and we await the outcome on what may be agreed between the two parties. In the meantime, we engage regularly with the steel and aluminium sectors to make sure there is a clear voice for industry and we are ready to act in the best interests of the UK.

Trade Promotion: Business Interests

Viscount Waverley: To ask His Majesty's Government whether the rules produced by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments apply to the Prime Minister's trade envoys.

Lord Offord of Garvel: The Business Appointment Rules do not apply to the Prime Minister's Trade Envoys.